I bought the main fabric with the chickens on from a French stall at Quilt Expo Barcelona and kept it in my collection as one of those fabrics you just do not want to slice up.I went to a workshop with the late Iris Eyles who taught me the basics of Broderie Perse,and inspired me to want to make several pieces using the technique.â€Fowl Play†hangs in my kitchen and the technique proved to be the perfect medium for using up that bit of fabric that I couldn’t bear to chop up.
The background fabric is a printed chicken wire pattern which I quilted to give the backdrop texture.The main chicken in this photograph has a tail made from two layers of the same image which enabled me to leave parts of the top layer exposing the bottom layer which I frayed to create the appearance of feathers.The chickens are densely free motion embroidered using lots of different colours and weights of thread.
The wall hanging features quite a lot of handwork which is unusual for me because if I cannot stitch it by machine then I usually avoid the project.If you have some lovely fabric that you cannot bear to cut then this may be the solution for you too.
“Fowl Play†was made in 2004
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